Catholic Spiritual Living Journal

1. Mary, Mother of God, I believe that you are Mediatrix with Jesus you share also in His sovereign dominion over the universe. You are Queen because you are the Mother of the Word Incarnate. Christ is universal King because He rules all creatures by His personal union with the divinity. You brought Him into the world that He might be King, according to the words of the archangel: "And of His kingdom there shall be no end." By consenting to His birth, you made Him King.

Mary, My Mother, you are Queen also because your are Co-Redemptrix. Jesus reigns over us not only by natural right, but also by the right of redemption. As
cooperator with your Son in that work of redemption, you also acquired the right to reign with Him. God chose you to be His Mother and by that very choice has associated you with Himself in the work of the salvation of men. Since you had your place beside Jesus when there was question of ransoming us and meriting for us all the graces necessary for our salvation, you must in like manner have your place beside Him now, when there is question of securing for us by your prayers in heaven the graces prepared for us in view of the merits of Christ. This is my hope that you will be a Mother to me and obtain for me the grace I need to save my soul.

2. Mary, Mother of God, yours is a queenship of goodness. You add a degree of motherly sweetness to the joy of the angels and saints and to the blessed of the Church triumphant. To the Church suffering you bring consolation, relief, deliverance, to the Church militant you offer aid, confidence, victory.

Yours is a queenship of dominion. You exercise your queenly dominion over the minds, the hearts, the wills and even over the bodies of your subjects. You rule over their minds, by making them understand better the teaching of Christ, over their hearts, by turning them to Jesus through the charm of your motherly affection, over their wills, by gently inclining them to observe all the commandments of your Son; over their bodies, by teaching men to subject their members to the law of God through the practice of temperance and chastity. The more fully you are Queen in a soul, the more does Jesus reign there as King. Reign over my mind and heart and will and body, so that I may belong completely to Jesus through you.

Mary, My Mother, yours is a queenship of conquest. How many souls have still to be brought under the rule of Christ the King! Fulfill your apostolic mission of winning the world for Christ. As formerly the shepherds and the magi found Jesus close to you, so now may all sinners, unbelievers and pagans find Jesus through you, His Mother. Hasten the reign of Christ by ruling over all of us, your children.

3. Mary, Mother of God, the apostolic mission confided to you as Queen by your Son is to help Him to the end of time in the sanctification and the salvation of all the souls that come into the world. This apostolic mission is a consequence of your office as Mother, as Co-Redemptrix and as Dispenser of all graces.

As Mother, it is your mission to preserve your children from sin and to make them live the supernatural life. You are the first apostle of your children not only because you are the most perfect of mothers, but especially because you are our spiritual Mother. Your apostolic work-to snatch souls from Satan and from sin to make them live the supernatural life-is the very reason for your motherhood.

As Co-Redemptrix, you must finish your work by applying the grace of redemption to each individual soul, for only then the redemption is achieved. This is the very heart of your apostolate. No apostolic act bears fruit without grace. But all graces come through you. Through your prayers all graces have come to the apostle and to the souls converted or sanctified. By granting them these graces you have performed a work of the apostolate. Your apostolate is universal because you are the spiritual Mother of all men and the universal Co-Redemptrix. All other apostles and workers for the salvation of souls depend upon you for blessing upon their missionary work. Bless the work of those who spend themselves to bring souls to your loving Son. Through your powerful intercession obtain for them the graces they need. Sanctify them first, so that they may then more effectively sanctify others.

Mary, My Mother, as Dispenser of all graces, you make the world share in the infinite merits of the redemption. You are the Mediatrix of our peace with God and the Giver of heavenly graces. You have entered into the highest state of power and glory in Heaven in order that you may help us in our journey through so many dangers to the kingdom of Heaven. I believe with the Church that from the great treasury of graces that Jesus has merited for us, nothing comes to us, by the will of God. except through you. Hence, it is through you that we must go to Christ, almost in the same way as through Christ we approach our Heavenly Father. You are our Mediatrix with our Mediator.

We do not attribute to you the power of producing supernatural grace, even though you are the Mother of God, for this power belongs to God alone. But, because you surpass all other creatures in holiness and in the closeness of your union with Jesus and. because you have been, according to the Divine Plan, associated with Jesus in the work of Redemption, you have merited by a merit of fitness all that Christ has merited by a merit of justice, and God has made you the Giver of His Graces.

You are Queen of the universe, not by force, but by the power of love. You embrace the universe in the realm of your love and enrich it through your unfailing intercession. You are "Suppliant Omnipotence" because your prayer obtains all graces from the infinite treasures of God.

From your heart we hope to obtain the love of God that He expects from His creatures, and also the pardon that guilty but repentant creatures ask from their merciful Creator. All souls belong to you and your Son. He is King and you are Queen of all hearts. Rule over us by the queenly power of your love that the Kingdom of your Son-the Kingdom of Truth and Life, Holiness and Grace, Justice, Love and Peace-may come upon earth.